Although it’s out of date, the California Dept. of Ed. describes us in the following way:
The California Adult Education Program serves state and national interests by providing life-long educational opportunities and support services to all adults. The Adult Education programs address the unique and evolving needs of individuals and communities by providing adults with the knowledge and skills necessary to participate effectively as productive citizens, workers, and family members.
Program Description: The California Education Code sections 52501, 52502, 52503 and California Code of Regulations, Title 5 Section 10560 allows unified or high school districts to establish separate adult schools. The state budget supports these adult schools based on average daily attendance (a.d.a.), which equals to 525 hours per unit of a.d.a. Courses under the following program areas can be funded by state apportionment:
Program Description: The California Education Code sections 52501, 52502, 52503 and California Code of Regulations, Title 5 Section 10560 allows unified or high school districts to establish separate adult schools. The state budget supports these adult schools based on average daily attendance (a.d.a.), which equals to 525 hours per unit of a.d.a. Courses under the following program areas can be funded by state apportionment:
- Adult Literacy/High School Diploma
- English as a Second Language/Citizenship
- Adults with Disabilities
- Career Technical Education/Apprenticeships
- Parenting, Family, and Consumer Awareness
- Older Adults
Benefits and Outcomes: Adult education provides lifelong educational opportunities and services to adult learners. These opportunities and services are to address the unique needs of individuals and communities by providing adults with the knowledge and skills necessary to participate effectively as citizens, workers, family members, and consumers of goods and services.
Adult Education – Federal Program
Program Description: The federal Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, enacted as Title II of the Workforce Investment Act, provides federal funding to supplement adult education programs in both public and private non-profit institutions. These funds supplement Adult Basic Education (ABE), English as a Second Language (ESL), and Adult Secondary Education (ASE) programs. The goal of this program is to enable adults to become more employable, productive, and responsible citizens through literacy.
Now, our ADA is gone and we operate from a block grant based on ADA from 2008-09, and Districts can ‘flex’ as much of that block grant as they need with our current legislation (Tier III - Categorical Flexibility). Berkeley Unified has flexed some of our funds, but overall we are standing strong in comparison to Adult Schools across the state, and we are grateful for the support we receive from our District.
The BUSD Budget Advisory Committee met on March 15 and shared two budget scenarios: A) California State tax extensions make it on the ballot (and pass) for a June special election and B) tax extensions fail to get on the ballot or to pass voters’ recommendations. See the table below for specifics.
Good stewardship means that we should be prepared. So, what to do if the District flexes $1million? It used to be a mandate that if an Adult School operated classes within the 6 areas listed above, the school would receive ADA apportionment. Since we don’t earn our own revenue anymore, how do we decide where to scale back, where to cut, which programs to protect, or not? The 2010-11 State Strategic Plan for Adult Education identifies core programs as ESL, Adult Literacy/HS Diploma and CTE. Our District has been somewhat prescriptive regarding BAS reductions, and in fact, as a department of BUSD, our governing board does guide us. How Adult Schools operate is now a local decision. Here are the two budget scenarios prescribed by the BUSD Budget Advisory Committee:
Scenario A | |
additional fees/reduce programming | 225,000 |
Scenario B | |
additional fees/reduce programming | 225,000 |
off site classes all fee based | 130,000 |
eliminate subsidy for Inner City Services | 80,000 |
additional reduced programming | 600,000 |
total | 1,035,000 |
We will host two Open Forums in April (following our Spring Break) to share information with our staff on how we approach these two budget scenarios.
